Guardian of the Lost Cities
by Katie Woods
Summary: Calla Vacker was never a normal child, fire loved her and chaos followed where ever she went, but when she finds out about a whole new world full of Elves, will she be able to belong there?
1. YAY

**Surprise surprise, I have been given the chance to Co-author a new story and as you can tell by the title it is Keeper of the Lost Cities. It might be a bit shitty since I'm not as crazy about KOTLC as I am about Gallagher but I hope it meets your standers internet. So yeah, get ready to meet Calla Vacker, a spunky pyro with no idea whatsoever she is doing with her life and great gods please help this child. Just note that Calla will be very powerful since she's Sophie's daughter and all that jazz but also note that she has no idea how to work anything and is just twelve-years-old. She has no idea what she is doing and if she does something she has no idea how she did it. Send a prayer she lives and I don't kill her like I do with pretty much everyone lol. Arrivederci~**

 **-Katie Woods**

 **P.S this isn't my story please remember there is another person writing this too, check them out and their other stories on Quotev their name is Justwritingstuff or Blake Mulligan so yeah and also special shout out to the creator of all my title covers and Blake's title cover for KOTLC. Thank you, you amazing artist!**


	2. Preface

Calla had nowhere to go, she was trapped. The fire around her swirled in graceful movements. No matter what she did the neon flames would burn her, and soon the whole school. She fell to the floor in a gasping heap. The air that she breathed felt like a bullet to the chest with every passing wet breath. _How did this even happen?_ Was the question that echoed in her mind.

Suddenly a face came through the wall of flames. Calla gasped at the figure and tried to scramble away but her body wouldn't respond. There standing before her was herself. 'She' was covered in flames but she could still recognize herself. It smiled at her with no kindness of heart. 'Her' hands reached for her and 'her' long thin fingers wrapped around her throat.

Calla struggled against the open like hold of 'her'. Her fire made fingers burned her skin as she gasped for air. The fresh smell of burning flesh burned her nostrils and 'her' gave a cruel smile with an even colder dark laughter. Calla reached into her bag for her only hope left. Although she promised never to do it again for her family's safety, she had to...for everyone's safety. She had to.

Her fingers brushed the cold metal strings. She opened her mouth with what little air was left in her lungs and sang.


	3. One

Fitz paced back and further in front of the only door separating him from his child and wife. Suddenly the door opened and he rushed inside, heart pounding hard against his chest he thought it would burst out. He saw her holding steady on the bed with two little bundles in her arms. He smiled at her. Happy to see Sophie safe. Happy to see his kids safe.

He walked over nervous, he ran a hand though his hair wondering what could happen. Then it all went away as Sophie, his wife, held his hand and brought him close. They shared a kiss and he took one of the cute little bundles. A boy and a girl, twins. Fitz held his daughter in his arms both proud and nervous for her. She seemed to refuse to open her eyes or speak. Sophie held their son in her arms and he opened his eyes almost immediately. Teal eyes stared back at them both and he spoke his first word.

"Fly."

They looked at each other knowing now was the perfect time for naming. Sophie gave him a smile. "You choose." She spoke, her voice a little shaky and Fitz held her hand in his. "How does Soarin sound?" Sophie smiled and nodded. Baby Soarin laughed and repeated his name like it was a joke to him.

They both then turned to the baby girl. She stayed quiet but breathing and still had not opened her eyes. They both knew that there was no reason to worry. Yet.

Fitz rushed to his son's side at once as the baby called out Foxfire to the Leapmaster 500 after learning of the prestigious academy. He just barley managed to pull him away before he stepped into the light. Fitz sighed and took Soarin to the living room with Sophie, Grady, Edaline, Alden, and Della. They all sat in a worried circle. It had been almost two weeks and still no sign of anything other than sleep and closed eyes eating from baby Calla, a name given to her by her mother. Soon the rest of Sophie's guests came. Biana and Tam Song, Dex and Linh Dizznee, and Councilor Keefe Sencen.

Fitz nodded at everyone as they gathered around Calla. "Still hasn't woken up from her beauty sleep?" Keefe joked to lighten up the mood but Sophie brought it back down again by shaking her head. Calla shifted to get into a more comfortable position on Grady's arms. Eventually they decided she would come around in her own time and put her in a special crib. They ate as they spoke in soft words about the child who even under the watchful eyes of Sandor was an escape artist. Sandor burst into the dinning room and with one look at Sophie she stood, stuffing her face with her mallowmelt and raced back to the living room. The house was searched top to bottom till they found the baby in the fire place laughing like her parents horrified faces were the best joke she had ever heard. Linh immediately got water and splashed the fire out and Calla stopped laughing. She looked around at the wet timber with a quiver to her lips.

Seconds later Elwin burst through the front door. He sighed. "You know I should just move in at this point." He chuckled at Sophie's un-amused face as everyone else tried to hold their laughter in. Elwin checked Calla over and over again and shook his head every time.

"There's nothing wrong with her." He said turning to Sophie and Fitz. He turned back around for one last check and his blood ran cold. "Where's the baby?" He said and soon it was another house-wide search. Until Calla was found hanging by the crystal chandelier in Sophie's old room. "How?" Dex muttered to himself as he got the baby down and came back to join the rest. "Guys I found her...whats with those faces?" He asked at everyone's shocked face as they looked at him but he soon realized it as someone else they looked at, someone in his arms. Someone who was on fire at the moment. Literally.

Dex screamed and ran to the nearest bathroom to extinguish the fire and jumped in the shower. Calla tried to shove herself into him like she didn't like the water. Dec turned it off and she relaxed a bit. Then lit on fire again. Instead of panicking he watched the baby closely and saw her wet hair dry up in seconds and so did the clothes around the spot where she was. Then her chocolate brown eyes met his periwinkle ones. They had the same flecks of gold her mother's had.

Once she was dry she seemed happier. Dec came out of the bathroom with a fire engulfed baby and gave a soft and awkward smile.

"Congrats, she manifested a Pyrokinetic at 2 weeks. Also, she hates water." All mouths fell to the floor. Linh approached the baby and Calla moved away from her in Dex's arms. "Well, she hates water and everything related to it," Keefe said stating the obvious.

####

It had been four years and the twins ran circles around each other excitingly. Calla was behind a few feet trying to catch up with her brother but he was faster than her. She then got an idea and then fire emerged and spouted from her feet giving her a kind of boost but one she wasn't in complete control of.

She was shot forward with a stream of flames behind her and she tackled her brother to the ground in a fit of laughter. Then their mother's voice rang in their heads as if she were standing right next to them.

 _What did I say about getting dirty and playing rough?_

Both children dusted themselves off and transmitted back.

 _Sorry, mom._

The two children smiled and then ran back to their house, it stood at three stories at most. Millions of rooms and a Leapmaster 500. It dazzled in the warm sunlight so brightly it seemed to vanish at times. It over looked the ocean and had the best view of the clear blue waters. Cliffs that were blocked off by a gate to the left and to the right a lush green forest. The twins thought the same thing and ran in happily unaware of the danger and the price it would cost their family.

Calla ran ahead of Soarin and laughed when she hid and her brother could not find her. She had tucked herself away in an old hallow tree their parents told them never to go to since it could break. When ever they asked why it was hallow and not green and alive like every other tree their parents would go silent and have trouble talking. Stumbling over their words and the twins just let them be with no further questions.

It was close to a small cliff that led to rough seas and sharp rocks but Calla kept low to the ground in case the tree really did break under her. She held back a laugh when she heard her brother struggling with finding her and moved closer to the tree. Suddenly gloved hands went right over her eyes and mouth stopping her from seeing whoever it was and screaming for help. They roughly shoved her away from the tree and she fought back with what little strength she could use. Then an idea hit her although she was told not to it unless being attacked, and this certainly seemed like one. The hand on her mouth disappeared and was replaced by a very sweet-scented rag. She lit her body on fire thinking _hurt_ over ad over again in her mind and a silent muffled scream answered her question of if she was even inflicting damage or not.

She used this opportunity to break free of the mysterious elf's hold and she did but her legs wouldn't function correctly. She wobbled as the world spun not giving her a clear vision and unable to detect her attacker. She stumbled as she fought with all her might to stand up straight and not pass out or throw up.

Her head was killing her, the pounding and throbbing in her ears, the muffled sounds and voices. She could see a blurred face and a long black cloak but couldn't hear the voice. In her mind her brother's voice rang and thrashed around in her head as she held her skull, the pain made tears come to her eyes as his voice boomed.

 _Where are you?_

She did her best to transmit two words before she could an even more skull breaking pain hit her.

 _Get mom._

She could feel him nod and then since she had been so distracted her attacker swung his arm and it hit her hard on the side of her face. Knocking her back a few feet and she lost her footing and nearly fell down the deadly fall of it had not been for a rock that was deep into the ground. But she knew she couldn't hold on forever. She was bound to fall eventually and her attacker thought that eventually was too much time and stomped at her hand. She squeaked in pain and she could see his cruel crooked tooth smile looking down at her.

He then took her bruised hands in his, the rough feel of the gloves and the ash-covered scent stuck in her mind. He then threw her down and she found her voice to scream. He glimmered away without a second glance her way. Then three figures appeared, her family. Her brother's teal eyes looked at her in horror, her father held her mother back from jumping as she felt him reach out to her with his mind. But her mother was the one she focused on the most. The same chocolate brown eyes they shared, the golden flakes that simmered in the sun. Calla reached out her hand for her and she noticed how her mother did the same.

Suddenly her head crashed into something hard and sharp sending skull-rattling pain into her head knocking her unconscious. She was sent somewhere dark, somewhere she felt familiar but also lost. It was warm and she felt a tingling sensation explode in her pain filled body. She didn't want to be in there but she didn't want to face cold reality again. She wanted to go somewhere safe, like the human world her mother often spoke about. The one with tiny houses and weird things called cars since humans couldn't light leap. Suddenly it felt really warm and she could see light up ahead. She was scared and debated about whether she should go or not but if it meant she could be safe again she passed through the hole in the dark and she hit hard cold ground and passed out.

/

Sophie watched in horror as her baby girl hit her head on one of the many sharp rocks below and sunk into the rough seas that carried her little body away. Blood stained the rock she hit and Fitz had to hold her back from jumping in herself. She screamed when her body didn't come back up for water and she used her telekinesis to float down to look for her. She reached out her mind to her daughter but she couldn't feel it anywhere. This was not good news. Even unconscious she should have been able to feel her mind. How could this have happened? Fitz held her close as she cried and when Soarin tugged her sleeve and asked the most heartbreaking question she had ever heard.

"Mom, when's Calla coming back up? She's gonna be okay right?"

Sophie cried and hugged him and sobbed into his tiny shoulder as she repeated one thing to him over and over again.

"It's okay sweetie, I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry."

And with that, it dawned on Soarin what had happened to his dear sister. She was in trouble, someone had done this. Anger boiled hot like the Everblaze and it coursed through his veins. He swore to find his sister's murder and avenge her. He swore to get stronger, to be the best, to find her killer, to help her rest in peace knowing she didn't die unavenged.

#####

Calla lumbered along the sidewalk bored. Her team had won another game but she was in no mood to celebrate. They only won because another person on the opposite team hurt themselves trying to catch her home run. They had twisted their ankle so badly they nearly broke it. Then the bench warmer came to replace them but they weren't very good at all. Her team had seen it as a good game and wished the kid who got hurt a good recovery. When she had come up to apologies the look in the child's eyes told her that they didn't want to hear it.

She walked home with her head down feeling terrible. Her stomach knotted so many times she doubted that she would be able to eat the victory dinner her family had prepared that morning. It was tradition in the Marquis family to make a victory dinner for the achievements that Calla and her twin sister Betty made.

Betty was a perky 12-year-old and wanted to try everything. She was the smart one of the two but also the most clueless. She was oblivious to the fact that she turned men's heads and broke hearts with just a smile. Betty was the beautiful and happy twin who didn't care much for appearances. Unlike Calla who was tall, lanky and awkward.

In fact, people were quite shocked to find out they were twins at all. Betty was a short ginger with freckles all over. Her happy green eyes and perky attitude was a polar opposite of her twin. Calla had dirty blond hair in a whole family and generations before of red heads. Also to be the only one in the whole family to have brown eyes was even stranger. In fact, she was different from her whole family in every way.

Tall, lanky, perfectly tan skin, flawless and freckle-free skin. Her dirty blonde hair cut short like a pixie but it was growing back. Her mother often described her as a 12-year-old model. Even though it was a lie in Calla's eyes. If anyone was the model it was Betty. Calla was just the prototype before the official beauty came out. Between the two Betty was the youngest and attracted boys like bees to the queen. Calla was the older one who was off limits since she refused to date.

She was athletic and just barley catching up with everyone else in her class. Something always nagged her in the back of her head telling her that everything she was learning was wrong and it was some odd scrambled way that didn't make any sense. And to put icing on the cake she was dyslexic. She couldn't understand a single letter written at all. Betty had to help her out since Calla refused to move schools to help with her dyslexia.

But there was another thing that separated her from her family, something that left a gap so wide it could fit an infant amount of Mt. Everest and the whole world's population including the dead and still have space for more. Calla could do things that no one else ever could. She could read minds. Sure people thought this was just some comic book fantasy but it was true. She could read people's thoughts and its what helped her in school the most sometimes. Although it could be annoying she learned to block people out of her head. She had yet to find someone who's mind she couldn't read at all.

She put on a fake smile and her best smirk. She opened the door to see her parents and Betty in the living room with proud eyes and happy smiles. Betty was the first to shot out of her chair like a rocket. She came at Calla with great speed and nearly made her lose her balance and fall to the floor. Her father chuckled and his thoughts flooded into her head along with her mother's and Betty's.

 _How was it kiddo?_

Oh, and another thing. They already knew she could read minds so being the freak of the family was a little easier when people already knew you were a freak. She smiled at him and puffed out her chest. "We won obviously." Her mother squealed and hugged her. Most thought her dyslexia had come from her recklessness. Her mother had gotten sick with some illness where her jaw could no longer move at all. Nerve thing. But good news was Calla's ability to read minds. They communicated that way every day.

 _I'm so proud of you sweetheart!_

Her mother's thoughts were always the loudest and strongest of the family. She shared the thought with everyone else and they nodded. "Yeah kiddo, we're all proud of you. And," Her father said, his green eyes shinning with pride and joy. "Report cards came in, on the table next to your Advil." She nodded and went to the kitchen to open the envelope. They always waited for the whole family to be there for report cards. Another Marquis family tradition.

As everyone took their seats at the table, Betty and Calla across from each other with their parents at each of their sides. Calla's father at her side and her mother at Betty's. Calla held the envelope in her shaky hands. She hoped all her hard work on last semesters' test had paid off well. She hadn't even checked anyone's mind like she promised to even if it was to read the question. She felt Betty's hand touch her knee and Calla reached down to hold it. They held hands as they ripped the envelopes open. Calla almost dropped her sister's hand looking at the grades. Three B's and only one C with an A at the end. Betty like usual had the best grades of all A's but this was the best Calla had gotten so far.

She showed her family the paper and they celebrated with Calla transmitting her mother's thoughts to everyone else. Dinner that night was filled with the taste of victory. The kid who had gotten hurt at the game that afternoon was still on her mind feeling bad but right now she was celebrating with her family so she tucked her worries away to a small nook in the back of her mind. She hugged her sister and smiled. That night was peaceful and quiet besides the sound of birds and dogs barking with a few crickets. She hugged her brown bear she named Soarin, she didn't know why she chose that name it was just in her mind when she thought of a name for the brown bear. Hugging Soarin tight she snugged deep into her blankets and had yet another strange dream.

The strange dreams came to her every night, they always ended up with her sitting up right tangled in her own bed sheets and covered in cold sweat. This time it was different. This time she wasn't in some dark nightmare realm like before and how it tried to suck her away to some odd happy world where a crowd of voices would fill her head with sad thoughts but the loudest and most painful of all would be a young boy's voice, deep and crisp. He would plead and beg for the suffering to end. His mind would connect with her's and terrible scenes of a little girl falling to her death replayed over and over again till anger and hate replaced it all with vengeance. The boiling hated for someone unknown and then a lovely tree would pop up.

It was tall and full of life, it had oak bark that circled the tree in perfect swirls. Amber brown bark came into the mix now and again. Red vines coiled around its lanky form, then orange, then yellow. Sandy yellow leaves like the Autumn ones she saw at home that turned golden brown at the tips. Chocolate brown berries with golden specks dangled from the arm like branches. But this time it was different.

Here she wasn't in the beautiful sad place where the boy's mind would replay the horrible scenes, here she was somewhere hiding. It was dark and cold, Calla tried to use her other ability which was to ignite on fire but she couldn't. It was strange, like she was in her own body but couldn't move. It felt familiar with a warm tingling sense. She could open her eyes and see a place, a home. It was a bit crocked but nice. Alone in an island, palm trees lining up like a wall from where the grass stopped and the white-pink sand leading to where a clear teal beach started. Two people stood there at the edge of the water staring at the rising moon. They held hands and sat in the sand, a woman and a man. The man had eyes like the beautiful sea before them, teal and deep. His dark brown hair was pushed back by his hand as his arm wrapped around the woman's shoulders. She had lovely blonde hair that fell into perfect waves like the calm sea, her chocolate brown eyes with golden flecks that reflected the silver moon's light.

They stood tall and strong as a young boy around her age walked to them. He ruffled up his dark brown hair similar to the man's. _His dad maybe?_ Calla had thought to herself. The boy's shinning teal eyes glimmered with fresh tears, he strolled to his parents pushing back his dark hair back with his hand like the man from before. A song danced with the wind making it into soft whispers that came with no music but lyrics. The lyrics were scrambled but soon came into understandable words to Calla's ears. They were soft and calming but also sad. It was like a work of art, she didn't get it but at the same time she understood. Tears weld in her eyes and she blinked then away and moved as far as the island would let from that family.

She sat down, feeling the cold wind blow on her face in gentle swirls, the white-pink sand felt so real in this dream too. Calla could feel every piece of sand as it slipped silently through her fingers. Then she got and idea and pinched herself. Startled and surprised that she actually felt that she stood with a gasp escaping her lips. Instantly her hand shot up to her mouth to cover the sound but it echoed through the dark silence as if she had yelled. Foot steps could be heard behind her and she raced to the calm water not caring if her clothes got wet or if every movement she made was a loud splash and swooshing sound. The footsteps got closer and closer. The song played louder and louder in her mind and soon the wind picked up trowing her hood at her face and she used it to cover her head.

Suddenly a sharp crisp voice cut through the now howling wind, the waters got rougher like a message to go back. Bur she couldn't.

"Hey!" the voice cut out with a strange accent Calla couldn't quite place. "Who are you, come back." The wind then threw off her hood letting her dirty blonde hair fall into her eyes. She turned around to see the boy from before. His eyes were visibly red and puffy but no tears showed themselves. She brushed the hair from her eyes and the couple from before suddenly appeared from the palms. They all looked at her with the same shocked faces. Their thoughts merged as one since they all thought the same thing.

 _Calla?!_

In a hasty panic to get back home, back to her soft warm bed with little Soarin, back with her perky twin, back with her happy smiling family she splashed and dove into the cold waves and soon the dark void like place surrounded her and the next thing she knew she was back in her room. She stood right in the center of it, cold and her clothes stuck to her body like glue because of water and droplets still fell from her dripping wet hair. She marched over to her dresser and changed clothes. She couldn't go back to sleep thinking that if she did she would be taken back to that strange place again and she defiantly didn't want to go there. So she stayed up, and then when she couldn't handle the silence anymore she took her ukulele and a house key, left a note for her parents in case they checked in on her and walked to the park.


	4. Two

**A/N: THIS IS IMPORTANT PLEASE READ! There are a few songs here mentioned and have the exact lyrics(I will sometimes insert the song itself)((if they are not exactly like the song then I changed them to go with the story I'm sorry)) and I will put credit to the creators at the bottom I don't own anything but this story! THANK YOU!**

* * *

Calla walked to the park with a headache, what had happened? She didn't understand and that bothered her. Usually, things were normal, everything happened with logic and a reason but this was just plain crazy. She sat on a bench in the middle of a tree filled patch. The grass was freshly cut and the air was cold since spring was just coming around. She held on to her ukulele and held it against her chest. She let out a breath and it frosted in the cool air like smoke.

She reached out for it like she could actually touch it. A group of homeless people huddled around an on fire garbage can. She zipped up the sweater she wore all the way to the top of her hoodie. It covered her face giving her a bit of warmth, two holes were sowed in with black see-through fabric so that people from the outside couldn't see her face or eyes.

She tuned the instrument till she got the right pitch for each string. She kept her eyes on the fire, strange things always happened when she played near the fire so she wanted to see the effect this song had. She played the strings and sang when it was her cue.

"If your evil and on you're on the rise

You can count on the four of us taking you down

Cause we're good and evil never beats us

We'll win the fight and then go out for pizzas

We are the Crystal Gems

We'll always save the day!

And if you think we can't

We'll always find a way!" The fire erupted in dancing flames that took the form of two humans and they danced, the homeless people ran and screamed not noticing her and she didn't notice the group of people behind her.

"That's why the people of this world believe in," Calla would have gone with the lyrics but something the back of her mind screamed names that she spoke over the original lyrics. "Vacker, Dizznee, and Song, and Sercen!" Calla stopped playing suddenly when she heard her own voice speak those names and the fire that was dancing in the sky happily had exploded and fell to the ground burning the grass and she returned to the spot where she stopped hoping the fire would obey.

" If you could only know, what we really are

When we arrived on Earth, from out beyond your star

We were amazed to find your beauty and your worth

And we will protect your kind and we will protect your Earth

And we protect your Earth!

And we will protect you!

I will fight for the place where I'm free to live, to be and exist as me!

I will fight in the name of Rose Quartz, and everything that she believed in!

I will fight for the world I was made in, the Earth is everything I've ever known!

I will fight to be everything that everybody wants me to be when I'm grown!

The odds are against us,

this won't be easy,

but we're not going to do it alone!

We are the Crystal Gems!

We'll always save the day!

And if you think we can't,

we'll always find a way!

That's why the people of this world, believe in

Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl and Steven" The fire had dance happily once more and at the end of the song it had returned to a normal fire in the trash can. Calla let out a sigh of relief, then a hand fell on her shoulder and she freaked out. She let out a yell and grabbed the hand remembering all her years of jujitsu and karate and flipped the person over her shoulder and scrambled away and burst into a run zooming off but something grey and big was following her, yellow beady eyes glowed in the dark and she panicked.

She threw the enlightened trash can at the ground as she passed by and then paused a moment and played a short tune so the fire wouldn't spread. The fire obeyed her command and turned into a wall of flames not burning anything and stopping the weird grey thing in its tracks. But unfortunately, there was a second on behind her. It gently put its hands on her shoulders startling the poor child close to death, Calla yelped and turned around to see a weird buff grey thing. She trembled at the 7-foot tall beast and nearly fainted at the sight of it. Then what scared her the most was the fact that it spoke.

"Hey, hey, hey! Careful Pyro, ya gonna burn my buddy over there so could ya take it down a notch?" She turned to face it, it had a chiseled jaw with sharp teeth and seemed like a shark smile when he grinned at her. Two big beady yellow eyes looked at her like they were laughing, she must have looked pretty ridiculous with her sweater zipped all the way up covering her face and screaming like a baby. She ran a hand through her hair once she had zipped her sweater down. Nervous to play in front of this thing but then took a deep breath and nervously scratched her jaw, habit. Playing a short tune and with her mind commanded the fire to stop being a wall and extinguish itself. Then the other grey thing stepped closer to her, but she noticed 15 people behind a squad of them.

She tried to inch away but Grey Thing 1 held onto her tightly but not hurting her. She stood her ground then realizing that if she were to be attacked she was always a living weapon. Standing straight and tall like her mother had taught her when dealing with adults. She could hear their thoughts crash into her mind like waves on rocks. They all seemed to be talking to each other in their minds. But one thing she understood was that they were friendly. They just wanted to talk. Blocking them and doing her best to look scared and confused she faked a shiver.

Making her voice as small as possible she spoke. "Who," she pretended to clear her throat and stood taller. "Who are you?" Pretending to sound braver than she wanted them to think she was. One man with wild blonde hair that stuck out in every direction walked up to Calla and smiled what was meant to be a dazzling smile but from Calla's point of view, it was just weird. "Hey there Mini-Foster." Calla looked back at him with a blank stare. "It's Marquis." He blinked. "Huh?" Calla still looked at him with that blank stare. "My last name, it's Marquis." The man just looked at her with his ice blue eyes and she looked back at him with her brown ones. "Oh well, that just kills the joke now." He complained and Calla did her best not to roll her eyes. I mean it wasn't even funny in the first place. She thought.

She then felt a tug on her mind and her eyes cut through the small group of people to the same boy from the beach. He looked at her surprised and then she understood. They were freaks like her. The man's hand fell on her shoulder and he flinched like she shocked him. He looked at 12 different adults and then he doubled over in pain. Suddenly a beautiful woman did the same and they groaned. The grey things ran to their aid and Calla took this as her chance to escape. But seeing those poor people's bodies hit the floor and their pain-filled groans stopped her. Sighing and cursing herself for being so soft she walked and pushed away from the grey guard things aside with her mind and came over, this seemed to make it worse and she relaxed and this seemed to help them. Strange.

She walked away from them once they got up and they shared a look. They then look at their team or group, the others nodded and the woman from the beach came to her. The guards parted making an aisle for her. Their eyes locked and Calla stood strong and glared at her head on. Whoever these people were she wasn't afraid, she was her own weapon, she knew other ways of fighting too. If any threat or sign of one came from either one of them she was ready. But the woman didn't suddenly attack she stopped a foot away from Calla and reached for her temples pausing and then looked at her and said. "Um...you don't mind do you?" Calla shook her head and closed the space between her and the woman's temples.

Calla felt her enter her mind so she took her somewhere where they could talk. They were in a dark space, it looked like there was no floor but they could walk without falling. Calla thought up a table and chairs for them to sit in and they sat. Calla pushed her hair back with her hand she sighed. "What are you guys here for?" Calla finally spoke startling the woman so much she jumped. "And don't even try reading my mind, I can feel you ya know." She said tapping her head and the woman nodded. "Sorry," She tugged on her eyelashes pulling a few lose ones out. Nervous habit? Sitting straight in her chair to woman spoke, her voice soft and soothing. Calla felt like she had heard it before but she didn't know where. "My name is Sophie, Sophie Vacker." She said giving Calla her hand to shake and Calla almost shook it before she realized. Vacker?! The name that she spoke before. Getting herself out of her surprised state she shook the hand in awe.

"Vacker?" Calla questioned, it was a strange last name. Sophie laughed and it was musical to Calla's ears. "I know it's a strange name but if you want strange you should my husband Fitz's name." What kind of name is Fitz?! Calla thought to herself confused. Sophie laughed some more at her like it was the funniest thing she had ever heard. "W-What's so funny?" Calla asked feeling stupid now for some reason. Sophie crocked her head to the side and gave her a warm smile. Her cheeks flushed in a nice rosy pink. "Oh sorry, I'm not laughing at you it's just I found the name weird too." Calla blushed feeling strange now.

Calla gave Sophie her hand to shake as well. "I'm Calla, Calla Marquis." Sophie seemed to visibly flinch at her name. What was up with that? Sure her family was well known for having a freak for a daughter but that was a strange reaction. Sophie nodded and shook her hand but Calla could have sworn she heard something.

'Keep her distracted.'

This was a trap. Calla instantly broke the connection and got into a running position. She looked at Sophie in the eyes and ran. Using her fire for boost she zipped past the guards and halfway across the park by the time any of them could react. Calla went back to old fashion running and she could have sworn she saw them glimmer away in a flash of light when she turned around to look back. She huffed as she ran along and far from home. "What's going on?" She growled to herself, was she finally going crazy?

She didn't go back home but as she reached the other entrance to the park she smiled seeing her family. Her father held the note in his hand looking worried and she ran right into his arms. "Oh thank the stars you guys are real!" She cried out relieved she hadn't gone completely mad. "Real?! Did you have one of your dreams again?" Calla shook her head. "No, I-" She paused and looked up to see the same people behind her family. "Dad look out!" She stood before her parents worried and got into an attack stance. "Woah kiddo, hold up!" Her dad cried out and Calla wondered why he was protecting these people.

"This is the council, they're friends." The council of what? "Who?" Her father looked sad as he held her mom and Betty close. "They um, uh," He sucked in a breath not sure what to say. "They let us keep you."

"What?!" Calla cried. Keep her? What did they mean by that? These people didn't own her! She wasn't some piece of property! Sophie came to her with a sorry smile. "Sweetie please calm down, you're hurting your 'uncle' Keefe." What kind of stupid, crazy name was Keefe? Calla looked over at the odd blonde man from before who was waving his hand in the air like there was a fly bothering him. So was the beautiful lady from before. Calla shook her head. "Oh I get it, it's a prank, right? Where's the camera? Man, you guys sure had me fooled." Calla watched as her dad backed away from her as she stepped forward to them. "What? What's wrong?" The man she had known all her life then looked at her like she was a stranger attacking her.

"Um, can I help you with something miss?" He asked voice soft. Calla backed off surprised. If this was a prank then her dad deserved an Oscar. Calla looked at her mom who was passed out in her dad's arms. But where was Betty? A hand suddenly took her by the shoulder and pulled her away forcing her to leave her father. "Let go!" Calla shouted but whoever it was didn't listen. It all went by too fast. The city lights blurred away and soon Calla could hear the ocean, but that was impossible. That would have meant that they traveled miles and miles in just a second. The beach was always far from where she lived so suddenly feeling the sand under her feet was weird.

She turned around to see Betty, she stood tall and looked at her not saying a word. Calla felt like she was going to throw up. What in the world was going on? Betty walked so quickly and gracefully Calla almost didn't see her move. She didn't even leave tracks in the sand like Calla did. "Betty? What's going on?!" She asked now shouting. Betty turned to her. Her ginger hair fanning around her like a halo, her once green eyes now blue. "What do you mean? You did what you had to do, you sealed the deal."

Calla took a step forward mad. "What deal? What are you talking about?!" 'Betty' held up her hand to silence her. "You caused this all, so remember." Well, what the hell was Calla supposed to do with that? What kind of response was that? Calla fell to the sand defeated. She was done, this all made no sense. All she did was see three people and suddenly she made a deal, sealed it, her family isn't real, it was like reality was splitting apart. Calla looked around at the trashy beach, a can here, empty water bottle there. It looked normal but she expected a monster to suddenly pop out of thin air. She noticed some cliffs off in the distance. She walked over, they weren't really far from where she was.

'Betty' turned around as was surprised to see that Calla wasn't there. She looked around and saw her on top of the cliffs. She gasped and ran to her. "Calla! What are you doing?!" She shouted. She was just supposed to help her remember, not this! Calla took out her strange string item and played music with it. She had a dead look in her eyes.

Calla didn't even notice she had an audience as she tried to get rid of it all. Destroy madness at its source. She took her ukulele in hand and suddenly her head snapped up so she looked at the sky, she didn't even notice the glimmer of light from the corner of her eye as she played.

Her interment felt different in her hands but that feeling quickly left as she played but something at the back of her mind bugged her. Like what she was about to do was wrong but instinctively she knew it was what she had to do.

Sophie came as soon as she heard from Nellie. She looked up to see her daughter, her only daughter glowing a brilliant red in the dark light. She turned to them but this new person definitely wasn't the girl she had just met three seconds ago. She was being engulfed in fire, her pupils were no longer visible and all you could see were not eyes but the odd yellow glow a fire makes. Her hair frailing around wildly and her fits clenched and she looked out to the sea. Sophie felt useless as she tried and failed to get even an inch closer to her baby. It was like the heat was so strong it was blowing her away.

"Calla! Calla please!" She cried out and the girl ran her hand through her hair like her father and she sat down still on fire but Sophie could now move closer. Sophie looked around and saw the others struggling to get close while she moved with ease. She walked over and as she got closer she could hear humming. It was a sad song. She looked at her, what had Sophie missed. A lot probably. Way too much. the fire cooled down but still, the others couldn't get past this invisible barrier. They were out of earshot too.

Calla took a deep breath before letting it out. She stared into Sophie's eyes and stood walking closer to the edge. She opened her arms like she was going to jump. Sophie ran over so quickly she was amazed she didn't trip or anything like that. She grabbed Calla from around her waist and pulled her away. "Stop!" SHe cried out scared. She couldn't lose her again.

 **Crystal Gem-Steven Universe**


End file.
